Art by Constance Guidotti: Vietnam

Exquisite Safaris in Vietnam

New Works: A Visual Memoir of Vietnam Incommunicado
Artist Statement by Constance Guidotti

1952
I am sixteen, my San Francisco Baseball All Star boyfriend joins the Army. In a letter from boot camp Monterey Camp Pendleton he writes, "I am either going to Panama or South East Asia to a place called Vietnam."
"Vietnam? South East Asia? Where is it?" I write.

1963
I am 27, a young mother of three. A friend of the family, a career military man tells us at a family barbeque; "I am going to Vietnam as an advisor."
"Vietnam? Where is that? What is an advisor?"

1970
I am 34, my cousin is a Private in the Army in Vietnam. I see pictures of him, very tan, with his dog tags around his neck, in a bathing suit on China Beach. My uncle a World War 2 Veteran, a medic in Italy writes this advise to his son in Vietnam; "Don't be a hero. Keep Your Head Down."

And every night I cook dinner for the family while the Vietnam war rages over the TV, people protest the war, they are marching in the streets. I take care of my family.

1976
I am 40. We are in a recession. It affects my husband's job. I need to go to work instead of finishing the college degree I had been working towards. I go to work at the Unemployment Department. The Vietnam War is over. Every day we see Veterans who cannot work, who are having terrible problems. They come to our office in Palo Alto from the VA Hospital. There is a special desk, just for them with a "Veteran Specialist" who does nothing but talk to Veterans. I sit next to a Vietnam veteran, John, who also works for the department. He has hidden injuries that do not show on his handsome face. He tells me he was in a body bag, but they discovered he was alive. He tells me, "I will not live to be 40." Every day Vietnamese refugees come to our office to look for work. John dies at age 39 of a brain tumor.

1980
I am 44, still working for the State of California but working in job placement instead of unemployment. I am working at Foothill College helping students get jobs. I am working with a young Vietnamese girl who was a boat person. We talk a lot. I like her.

1994
I am 58, I have retired from the State. I have returned to college to work on my art degree. I go to school to help feed my creativity. I can't get enough of learning. A class in the "Vietnam Conflict" taught by John Swennson is offered at De Anza College. I write a paper called "Tears and Technology" after crying through two books; a Vietnamese author Le Ly Hayslip's book, "When Heaven And Earth Change Places" and Winnie Smith's book, "American Daughter Gone to War" I wrote:

Tears and technology don't mix. Tears are not the American way. The American way is technology, addiction and self help books. The American way is also winning. This is at the bottom of our conditioning from babyhood. Those that don't win, can't win, are inferior. If you're not a winner you don't fit in.

I meet veterans who have served in Vietnam. I hear speakers who were draft doger’s and high up military men in the South Vietnamese Army. I see Hollywood's version of Vietnam, I read many books, written from a variety of perspectives on the Vietnam conflict. I photographed a veterans home shrine, where he had collected every book, tape, and movie on Vietnam. The walls were lined with books, pictures and memorabilia from the war. As a healing gesture he donated the greater part of the collection to De Anza College where it has a special place in the library.

1998
I am 62, still caring for family and creating art. De Anza College offers the first Study Abroad Class to Vietnam with John Swennson leading the class. I sign up for the class and go to Vietnam for 5 weeks. I establish a relationship with a cyclo driver. It is a mutual adoption."He is my son's age. I am his American mom, he is my Vietnamese son. While in Ho Chi Minh City he took care of and protected me, now I try to help him as a mother would by sending a few dollars now and then. While in Vietnam I took two ten hour bus rides in search of Le Ly Hayslips village. It was not easy to find. There were unplanned tears when I walked into the tiny bamboo house that I had read about in the book, in the village that I cried over while reading the book. The author's words came back to me as I stood before her 90 year old mother, Hayslip wrote, "and someday the whole world will know what a wonderful mother you have been."When she smiled her teeth and mouth were black from chewing betel nut. Her tiny body had been through such an unbelievable life time. I felt blessed to be in her presence".

Constance Guidotti's art has been inspired during her travels throughout Vietnam. She lives in Cupertino, California.


Exquisite Safaris in Vietnam


Vietnam Links:
Philanthropic Travel Vietnam
Halong Bay World Heritage Site
Old Quarter Hanoi
Investing in Vietnam

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2007 World Travel Market London: Luxury Travel with a Conscience
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The Fable of Stone Soup
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
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